


Night And Day

by crediniaeth



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-25
Updated: 2005-07-25
Packaged: 2018-01-04 04:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1076665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crediniaeth/pseuds/crediniaeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I can't believe I did this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night And Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [horchata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/horchata/gifts).



> A challenge was put forth by horchata when I wrote this in 2005. The conditions? Must be Nine/Rose. Must include Ella Fitzgerald. Must include the word "cinnamon". I hope I have done everyone involved justice.
> 
> Spoilers for The Doctor Dances and Father's Day

“I can’t believe I did this.”  
  
“Did what?”  
  
“This get-up. Did girls dress up like this all the time?”  
  
“I’m sure they did, but seeing as I’m not a bird, I have no frame of reference on the subject.”   
  
“Like I’m supposed to believe that.”  
  
“Have I ever lied to you?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“That’s right, and I don’t plan on starting anytime soon. Where’s Jack?”  
  
“Right here, Doc…”  
  
“Right then, are we off?”  
  
“As off as the three of us can be.”  
  


~*~

  
  
Opening up the door of the TARDIS, Rose, the Doctor, and Jack found themselves in New York City. The Doctor said it was 1944, but it was  _the Doctor_ , and Rose learned to take his statements about specifics with a grain of salt. She wasn’t too entirely worried… it looked right. Besides, she wasn’t the only one in period – people could laugh at Jack as well.  
  
The trio walked through the alley where the Doctor had parked his precious TARDIS until they reached the main thoroughfare. “Here we are,” the Doctor said, waving his arm about. “Fifty-second Street at the height of the Swing Era.”  
  
Rose smiled. The amount of neon packed into such a small amount of space was astounding. “It certainly is… interesting.”  
  
“Interesting? It’s beautiful! Fascinating! Impressive! This, my dear Rose, is the heart of jazz at its finest!” The Doctor was positively beaming when he turned to Jack. “Back me up here, good man.”  
  
“He’s right, Rose,” Jack said. “Much more going on in these two blocks than ‘Moonlight Serenade’, I can tell you that much. That’s further downtown.”  
  
“I can see that,” Rose replied. “So, will one of you explain why I had to use straps to keep my stockings up?”  
  
Jack raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Really?”  
  
“On second thought, no,” Rose stated. “Let me rephrase. Why are we here?”  
  
“Because we were having a bang up time back on the TARDIS, and I thought you might like some first-hand experience,” the Doctor said while flashing his cheeky grin.  
  
 _Oh, two can play at that game_ , Rose thought to herself. “That’s your excuse?”  
  
“It’s not an excuse. It’s a statement of fact.”  
  
“Well, who am I to stand in the way of fact then?” Rose looked up and down the street. “Which neon sign first?”  
  
“The  _Three Deuces_ ,” Jack said immediately, pointing to a canopy across the way.  
  
Another grin from the Doctor. “Fantastic.”  
  


~*~

  
  
Rose was doing her best not to cough up a lung, but it was difficult. The ratio of smoke to breathable air was about even, and Rose wasn’t used to that kind of atmosphere anymore, thanks to the Doctor. She managed to keep it to a minimum, especially after the Doctor managed to find a table close to the stage. It wasn’t hard to notice there were only two seats at this particular table. “And I just suppose we’re gonna make Jack stand the entire night and ruin the view.”  
  
“He’s doing quite well, considering. Look.”   
  
The Doctor pointed to the bar behind Rose, so she turned to look. To her amusement, she found Jack getting quite close with an unsuspecting cinnamon-colored redhead seated at the bar. “I think Jack will be just fine.”   
  
The Doctor pulled out a chair. “Would you like to sit down?”  
  
“Don’t mind if I do.” Rose sat down and the Doctor followed suit. “So, who’s playing tonight?”  
  
“One of the best,” he said as he pointed toward the easel on the stage. “Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady of Song. Fantastic, she is.”  
  
“She certainly is,” said the man sitting at the table next to them.  
  
Rose turned to look at the man who had joined their conversation. He was wearing a pinstriped suit, was broad about the shoulders, dark slicked back hair, and eyes that twinkled as much as the Doctor’s. “Listen to her often,” Rose asked.  
  
“More than often, all the time.” The man looked at Rose closely. “You’re not from around here, are you?”  
  
“Neither of us are,” the Doctor said. “Just passing through. Taking in the sights and sounds.”  
  
“Passing through, huh? Passing through U-boats, I imagine.” The man extended his hand to Rose. “Duke Ellington.”  
  
Rose accepted it. “Rose Tyler.”  
  
“Nice to meet you, Rose.” Duke also extended his hand to the Doctor. “And you are?”  
  
“The Doctor.”  
  
“Doctor who?”  
  
“Just ‘the Doctor’. I’m a big fan of yours, as well. You’re smashing. Absolutely smashing.”  
  
Duke was confused, but let it slide. “Thank you. How long are you going to be in New York?”  
  
“Just for tonight,” the Doctor replied. “Heading out after this set, actually.”  
  
Rose turned to look at the Doctor. “Oh really now! Who decided that?”  
  
“I did! And really, do you think it wise to let Jack run rampant for any longer than this? What if we lost him? The entire city wouldn’t be safe.”  
  
“Very true.” Rose turned back to Duke. “Yes. Tonight, sadly.”  
  
“That’s a shame. Even though Ella is spectacular, there’s so much more to see; the Savoy uptown, the Roseland and Cotton Club in Manhattan, it would be a shame not to see those as well.”  
  
“Perhaps another time,” the Doctor said. “Just gives us another reason to come back.”  
  
“Fair enough.” Duke turned and focused on another man at another table. “Excuse me.” With that, Duke rose from his seat and went back to greet his friend with a sturdy handshake and a hug.  
  
Just as Rose was about to speak, the drums began to play. With the drums came the roar of the audience…  
  


~*~

  
  
It was like someone let the frenzied cat out of the bag. Drums announced the arrival of the singer long before she appeared in the spotlight. When she started singing about jungles and stately clocks, there was a single roar of approval. Rose turned and saw Jack raising his glass in tribute. She didn’t quite understand, but it looked like Jack was having a good time, and that was one of the reasons they were here, weren’t they? To have a good time? If it was good enough for Jack, it was good enough for her.  
  
\--  
  
The next song was light, airy, and filled with rhythm. It made Rose smile and her feet tap. Watching the Doctor as Ella sang, it was as if this journey was as much for him as it had been for her. That one victory he had brightened him immensely, and Rose knew he wanted to draw it out as long as possible. She didn’t mind that either.  
  
\--  
  
She recognized the next song; the one the silly Frenchman sang in one of the many old movies her Gran would make her watch when she was small. Ella did it better, even though she was always sorry the Frenchman didn’t get the girl in the end.  
  
\--  
  
Rose had heard this one before as well, only from her Gran’s record player than her movies. That American bloke Sinatra did it well, but Ella added something different. She supposed that was what jazz was about; one song being performed a thousand different ways.  
  
\--  
  
The Doctor’s eyes twinkled at her. Could have been the mention of time, or it could have been one of his wild hairs, but he was grinning from ear to ear. Rose replied in the same.  
  
\--  
  
Delightful, delicious, de-lovely. Ella owned this song. She was just the right amount of sweet and sassy to pull it off swimmingly. Another side glance at the Doctor showed Rose he was just as into the music as Ella was on stage. He was lost, lost to the music.  _Now that’s something that doesn’t happen very often._  
  
\--  
  
 _Too many sounds! Not enough words!_  Rose recognized it as scat, but oh, was it too much to handle. Made her head hurt, it did. Couldn’t understand it at all. Perhaps that was more Jack’s thing than hers. She’d ask him later.  
  
\--  
  
Her boys were certainly full of charm; there wasn’t a doubt about that. Jack wore his more with his smile and charisma, the Doctor’s was more in the way he held her hand as they were running for their lives, or how he purposely got Mickey’s name wrong every time they’d gone back to the estate. More internal and personal than external and bright. Dancing with the Doctor, once he found his steps, made her feel like the most important thing in the universe. Maybe she had been, for whatever moment in time that had been. It had been heaven.  
  
\--  
  
Ella slowed down. Reaching the end. No regrets, except maybe that time she’d almost destroyed the world. But the Doctor had been there. Had even saved the day then, by proxy.  
She didn’t notice her hand in the Doctor’s till the end of the song, but she knew why it was there. No more need for searching. Exactly.  
  


~*~

  
  
“Admit it, Rose. That was fantastic.”  
  
“What, you think you’d have to push me to answer?”  
  
“No, I just know your music, and it was nothing like that. All loud beats and rap, that’s all you lot listen to. I’m surprised if you would even know quality if it stood right in front of you and slapped you in the face.”  
  
“Oi! Don’t take me for your average teeny-bopper who lives on Busted and B2K! I happen to have all three Coldplay albums back at home. Come to think of it, their latest should be out. Should grab it the next time we’re back.”  
  
“That the bloke who named his first child after a fruit?”  
  
“…Possibly.”  
  
“Really? A fruit?”  
  
“What’s so wrong with calling your child Apple? I think it’s quite quaint.”  
  
“Quaint? I call it strange.”  
  
“Shut it, Jack. But back to your argument, Doctor. Yes. Ella was fantastic. She seemed to be taking a fancy to you as well, if I’m not mistaken.”  
  
“And why wouldn’t she? He’s the pinnacle of perfection.”  
  
“If you don’t pull it back in Jack, I may just have to retaliate in the like.”  
  
“I’m shaking, really I am.”  
  
“You two are pathetic, you really are. I’m heading back to the TARDIS.”  
  


~*~

  
  
Silly arguments aside, Rose had a smashing time in 1940s New York City. New sights, new sounds, new friendships growing constantly. She made it back to the TARDIS a few ticks ahead of her companions and took the time to listen to the TARDIS’ own form of music. She may be silent, but she has her own rhythm, same as anyone else.   
  
Rose was still standing in the control room when the Doctor and Jack entered mid-conversation. “I’m telling you,” Jack said. “Goodman’s so much better than Basie! Have you even heard ‘King Porter Stomp’? That song had kids dancing in the aisles of Carnegie Hall. Carnegie! Basie never did that.”  
  
“But Basie brought improvisation back to big band! You have to give him credit for that, at least!”  
  
Rose just smiled at them. “Found something else to bicker about than, did you? You two sound like an old married couple.”  
  
“That’s right,” Jack said with a smirk. “Although, I have yet to see a ring.”  
  
“And you won’t. Not in this lifetime, at least.”  
  
“I’m crushed. Truly, I am. I don’t think I can stand that kind of rejection.” With that, Jack headed in the direction of his room, but not before winking at Rose and purposely ignoring the Doctor.   
  
“Crazy fifty-first century American,” the Doctor muttered.  
  
“He’s not crazy,” Rose responded. “Just opinionated. Just like you.”  
  
“Like me? Never.”  
  
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Without really thinking about it, Rose went over to the Doctor and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for tonight. You were right; I needed some first-hand experience.” She left him standing in the control room, but she couldn’t help hum a few bars of one of tonight’s songs, and she noted the control room was silent with a side of surprise.

**Author's Note:**

> Ella's Set List:
> 
> \- Night And Day, Cole Porter  
> \- Accentuate The Positive, Johnny Mercer  
> \- Nice Work If You Can Get It, George and Ira Gershwin  
> \- I've Got You Under My Skin, Cole Porter  
> \- As Time Goes By, Herman Hupfeld  
> \- De-Lovely, Cole Porter  
> \- Blue Skies, Irving Berlin  
> \- Cheek To Cheek, Irving Berlin  
> \- Someone To Watch Over Me, George and Ira Gershwin


End file.
